Going for the Heart

How to keep the wrong people out of the worship team

Pro 14:15 - The simple believes every word, but the prudent considers well his steps. (NKJV)

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how gullible some worship ministry leaders can get. I've seen many of them taken in by people who say they are serious about serving in the worship team, yet are not willing to put in the effort to get training. Sometimes those leaders approach me and say things like "That person is very serious about worship ministry, he has the heart for worship, can you help him?"

This, by the way, is usually an indirect request for free music lessons. People in church can be like that. This comes from a spirit of poverty upon that person, but that's a topic for another day…

I know I sound uncaring and calculative, but I've done this way too often and I have NEVER seen my efforts bear fruit. Such people never practice what I tell them to practice, never put in the work they need to put in and as a result never become effective in service. So don't waste my time!

Pro 20:11 Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right. (NKJV)

I wonder how much heartache and frustration would have been averted if ministry leaders kept the wrong people out of the worship band. In this day and age people have no excuses to not have the skills for whatever instrument they wish to play. Youtube has easily millions of dollars worth of music lessons available for free. Anyone who is serious but lacking in funds can easily head over there and get loads of good instrument and vocal teaching.

Of course it takes more work to organize and understand the material, but a serious person won't let that stop him or her!

But how about the heart? Would every good Christian musician have what it takes to do well in the worship ministry? Not necessarily. Here's a simple list of what they need to be an asset to your worship team.

• Basic level of skill with the instrument or voice – easily checked during the audition. And as a side benefit, if someone has a basic level of skill with an instrument, it shows that he or she is capable of putting in consistent work over a period of time. This basic level of discipline is very useful for many areas of life, not just music.
• Willingness to take a supporting role – you have to explain this during the briefings and auditions. Why? Because many immature musicians who are more impressed with flashiness rather than good taste, can hear a mature church band (playing only what is necessary) and think they are called of God to join the team and show the rest of the musicians how to rock the church building for the glory of God. They are expecting that once they show off their stuff on the guitar fretboard or piano key, for example, all the rest of you would immediately affirm them and say "That's great! If only you joined us earlier!!" And Sunday worship would be made up of them "humbly" displaying their skills to the glory of God…

Don't wait until they start overplaying on Sunday before you tell them that they need to restrain themselves. Tell them early and let them decide if they still want to join the worship team.

• Willingness to follow direction – this is the most crucial point.

If I tell a musician to play something in a particular way, and I know this musician has the necessary skill for it, this musician has totally no excuse for not following my instructions. "I'll try" is an unacceptable answer. If they cannot remember my instructions, then they should write them down on the chord charts I take time to prepare for every session I lead worship.

(Or they could just simply follow the chord charts. It takes only a couple of months to learn how to read them. A musician who plays solely by ear may be stuck in his/her ways already. Teaching them how to read chord charts is a quick way to see if they are still teachable and humble…)

Of course, I can be that dogmatic when giving specific instructions to other musicians. That's because I understand music, can play 3 instruments and have loads of experience teaching adult learners. If you don't have that level of skill and understanding you may have to be more careful when issuing such firm instructions. But at a minimum, you should expect musicians to follow the chord charts, just as you would expect singers to follow the song lyrics you give, and not keep changing the lyrics every time you do the song. People who will not do that do NOT have the necessary heart to serve in a worship ministry.

On YOUR part…

… if you are the worship leader or the leader of the ministry, you have to make every effort to make sure your followers have no valid reasons to not follow your directions.

That's why if I lead worship I prepare my own chord charts, ensure they are sent out a couple of days before, going through everything during the rehearsal and check if the musicians and vocalists can hear me and the anchor instrument I am using. As a leader you need to anticipate problems and deal with them or move around them.

How do you check if a musician can follow directions?

You have to build all that into the audition process. Give them directions and see how they follow. One idea is to tell them to repeat a chorus three times and build up the intensity each time. Give them some leeway in how they do it, but see if they do it, or at least try. Then decide from there.

Conclusion:

Never be desperate to take in just anybody. It's a recipe for trouble. The last thing you want is a worship "team" made up of individualistic players, each off in his or her own world, contributing more noise than music and giving you attitude problems in other ways as well. Keep the wrong people out and exercise your faith to believe God to provide the right musicians, those with a genuine heart for worship ministry. 

May you and your worship team grow both in size and skill, in the name of Jesus!

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